


heavy with hoping

by egirlpatches (BentOvrBckwrds1)



Category: Minecraft (Video Game), Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, Color Blindness, Colors, Cuddling, Flirting, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Friends to Lovers, Implied Sexual Content, Inspired by Music, M/M, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post Covid-19, Rating May Change, Slow Burn, Soulmate AU, and also how to write in general, but they'll get better eventually, in which the author forgets how to write tension of any kind, like chapter 3 had to be split so it wasnt 10k words, like literally so slow prepare yourselves, like so many songs, like so much flirting why are they like this, long chapters, maybe???, meet up, the titles are my outlet to be funny cause its gonna get sad, trust me things will go to shit, youre not gonna believe me on this one but its gonna hit you like a fucking truck eventually
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-03-08
Updated: 2021-03-13
Packaged: 2021-03-15 07:15:25
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 11,014
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29929842
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BentOvrBckwrds1/pseuds/egirlpatches
Summary: George's life has always been quite black and white. Literally. He's been alive for 24 years and never once seen even a bit of color. That is until he visits Florida to meet his best friend. A best friend who wears gloves and flirts and is way more attractive than George could've ever thought.That's when everything changes.alternately: dnf au where everything is the same but you can only see the colors of things your soulmate has touched (and when you kiss them, you see the whole world in full color). also dream has a car and covid-19 is over.
Relationships: Clay | Dream & GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), Clay | Dream/GeorgeNotFound (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound & Sapnap (Video Blogging RPF), GeorgeNotFound & Wilbur Soot
Comments: 14
Kudos: 56





	1. The Dream Team Meetup of 2021 Turns Into The DreamNotFound Meetup of 2021 and George Isn’t As Upset About It As He Should Be

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [when we met - limbo](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GftjwHxtDRU&ab_channel=Limbo-Topic)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so my last fic had very short chapters and pretty much got straight to the point, right? yeah this one is the opposite lol. have fun with my slow burn, pining, soulmate AU, 7.5 trillion word disaster of a fic, hope you enjoy your stay :]
> 
> (also big huge disclaimer that we don't ship real people here, only online personas!!! no harassing the cc's and no being fucking weird!!!)
> 
> note on the au: so basically, everyone sees the world in black and white in this universe. they don't see color until their soulmate touches an object with their hands, then they can see the color of the object that was touched. the entire world can be seen in color once you kiss your soulmate. otherwise, everything else is the same in this universe (but also COVID-19 is finally over!).

Above the clouds, the sun was blinding. 

The lone man sitting in the dark grey row of plane seats shielded his eyes from the rays of light flooding the cabin as he shifted out of the way. His hands twitched a few times before he shoved them back into the pockets of his grey hoodie. 

His phone bumped against them. There was no cell service ten-thousand meters in the air and the thought to download games on it hadn’t exactly crossed his mind before departure and so his only distraction from the overwhelming anxiety that was washing over his body in waves was rendered completely useless.

George sighed and closed his eyes, attempting to fall back into the fitful sleep that he’d spent the last twelve hours or so moving in and out of. With no service and all of his things packed in bags that were deep in the belly of the plane, he had nothing to do but sleep and worry and the latter was definitely the better option. Yet there he was: wide awake and overthinking.

March 10th, 2021. One of the biggest days of his life. The longer George thought about it, the more he could feel the weight of the upcoming events. It was heavy on his shoulders and got worse with every turbulent bounce of the plane that continued its trip over the Atlantic.

It would be more important than his graduation from university, his biggest Twitch stream, and every YouTube video he’d ever uploaded combined. It would be the day he would finally meet his online friends. In person.

After all the years, the late-night Minecraft games and endless livestreams and sleepovers in Discord calls, George was going to meet Dream and Sapnap. He would be able to touch them. Hear them. See them. They would be right in front of him after so many years of being nothing but noise in his headset and movement on his monitor. 

George tried not to think about the implications. The idea that he would be seeing Dream’s face for the first time. That really should have been the least of his worries. It _should_ have been. But it wasn’t. Not in the slightest.

He ran over the plans for his arrival on a loop while his hands shook in his pockets. George tried to remember everything he, Dream, and Sapnap had discussed. How his flight would end. How he would call Dream when he got inside the airport. How he would collect his luggage and, if he had no cell service, wait outside in the parking lot.

In a desperate attempt for a distraction, he rubbed his face with his fingertips. George traced his lips and recalled a joke he had made with Dream. It was something dumb about how he would be left outside in the cold, but this was Florida. Even in the middle of winter, it was going to be warmer than half the summers he had experienced in the UK.

That morning, when he’d driven an hour to the airport before the sun was even up, there was a meter of snow covering everything in sight. Florida, as far as he knew, had none. George wouldn’t miss it much.

The Brit sat up and rubbed his eyes, gaze flickering over the blacks and whites of the plane cabin. He’d been on the flight for half-a-day but hadn’t looked around at all. Not that there was much to see. 

Out the little oval window, the plane was starting to descend through the thick layer of clouds that blanketed Florida. They eventually gave way to the checkerboard of black and white neighborhoods and shimmering grey lakes that covered most of the state. They grew closer and closer, separating from the gloomy grey of the dreary sky as the plane hit the runway and screeched to a halt.

He was here. 

George looked out the window at the town he would be calling home for the next two weeks. It flickered into focus amongst the lightest spattering of rain and his lips split into a grin. He made it. He was here.

He stood and stretched once passengers were allowed off the plane, making sure he had all of his things before he made his way down the empty aisle and stepped onto American ground for the first time.

-

George learned very quickly that he had no cell service in the terminal. Or the airport. Or anywhere in Florida it seemed. The “No Service” label where the little bars should have been glared at him as he stepped into the baggage claim area. He moved out of the way of the other travelers to lean against a wall, body stiff and tired.

“ _Come on_ …” he mumbled to himself as he connected to the airport’s WiFi. The second the connection went through, he opened FaceTime and attempted to call Dream. It rang once. Twice. Three times. Dream didn’t answer. “Shit.”

Now what?

George thought for a long while, watching everyone else who had been on the plane disappear in the distance. Only when the airport was near-empty did he finally move. He thought about seeing Dream and Sapnap and suddenly his hands were shaking again.

He found his luggage in the baggage claim and pulled his suitcase behind him through the rest of the airport. Its little wheels were weighed down by the handful of bags he balanced on top of it. His arm was strained from pulling the pile until he reached the exit, stepping through the automatic doors and under the roof outside.

It was nearly dark out now and the rain was coming down harder than before. George shivered but he wasn’t cold. In fact, he was warm and the Florida air was humid and he was far too overdressed in his thick jeans and hoodie.

It was also quiet. There weren’t many other people around and he spared a quick glance to the ones that were, immediately determining that none of them were Dream. Sure he didn’t _exactly_ know what his friend looked like, but there was a list in the back of his mind of every detail Dream had given him in the past and none of the people met the requirements. 

He was supposedly 6’3”. In other words, he was over half-a-foot taller than George. He was also “blond”, which meant his hair was probably a lighter shade than George’s. He had also described himself as having “speckled eyes”. George didn’t know what to make of that.

Either way, there was no one around that matched the description and so George leaned against the wall, breathed in the thick Floridian air, and tried to FaceTime Dream again. 

As the phone rang through the void of a space, he took in the dark parking lot beyond the reach of the airport’s lights. It looked hazy and shimmered a bit in the rain as cars drove past in the distance. It didn’t feel real and yet there he was: in Florida. In America. Meeting Dream and Sapnap. 

He tried to FaceTime Sapnap next. His plane was supposed to arrive around the same time as George’s so it was a complete shot in the dark, but he tried anyway. George clicked his contact and listened to the distant ringing. One second. Two. Three. Five. Ten. No answer. The call didn’t even go through.

George shoved his phone back in his pocket and frowned. His hands were still shaking.

Footsteps.

He froze. He looked up to see someone approaching in the dark, stepping into the light from the windows. The stranger’s face shimmered with rain and his hair glittered with water droplets that reflected the distant lights. Their eyes met and the man smiled and in that moment, George knew. This was real. Dream was real. Dream was real and he was right in front of him.

And Dream was beautiful.

Maybe before this George might’ve believed that he _could have_ had a _little_ crush on his friend. Maybe. Now though… 

Now he had a _big_ problem.

-

Dream was tall. So much taller than George had thought. Half-a-foot meant nothing through a screen, but now? Now it meant _everything_. He was also blond. His hair was fluffy and a light shade of grey that bordered on white. It looked so soft, even with the water from the rain flattening it to his forehead.

George wasn’t sure how long he stared at Dream. That wasn’t to say that Dream didn’t stare back though, because he did so for so long that George was able to figure out what “speckled” eyes meant. They were light with dark flecks and a million shades of grey, all in two little spheres.

Neither seemed to know what to say. Dream eventually stepped forward and crossed the distance until he was directly in front of George. George had to look up at him and that made his heart skip several beats. There were a lot of implications and he tried his hardest to avoid all of them.

Dream’s hands were in his hoodie pocket but George could see he was playing with his fingers. “Hi.”

“Hi.” George didn’t know what else to say. He was lightheaded.

Dream looked like he could cry. His eyes were soft, shimmering, and he had the faintest smile across his plump lips. He looked like he was trying his best to remain calm. Manually steadied his breathing. Avoiding blinking so his tears wouldn’t fall. There was already water on his cheeks though and it trickled over his freckles, trailed down his chin. If his hair wasn’t also wet, George could’ve thought his best friend had already been crying. “Can I hug you?”

It was the voice he’d heard so many times. So many hours over so many years. And George knew that no shitty headset could do that voice justice. It was better than any song. Any sound ever actually. George thought his observation might be a bit overdramatic, but then he nodded and before he could blink he was wrapped in Dream’s arms. He was laughing.

Yep. He wasn’t exaggerating one bit.

Dream held him there, in the airport parking lot, for a long moment with no further words. There weren’t any needed. It gave George time to focus on how nice he felt. How he smelled like apple-cinnamon and how his fluffy hair brushed against his cheek. How warm he was and how their bodies fit together perfectly.

It was then that George finally came to his senses enough to hug Dream back. He wrapped his arms around him gingerly, afraid to push too far. He had never been a touchy person. Never really did this. And yet his fingers found Dream’s hoodie and curled into it and he didn’t want to let go.

Dream started talking before he could even pull back. “I’m so sorry I was late I was trying to get ahold of Sapnap because the website said his plane was going to be arriving early and he wasn’t picking up and I-” George took a step back, leaning onto the wall again and taking in Dream’s face while the man stumbled over his words.

“Dream. It’s okay.”

Dream’s hands retracted from George’s body and he shoved them back into his pockets, but not before George noticed the pair of slick white gloves that covered them. Or maybe they weren’t white. He couldn’t tell either way and didn’t care too much. He was too busy missing the warmth of Dream’s arms around him.

The taller man looked down, eyebrows crinkled as he looked at his own hoodie for a moment. His eyes darted right back up to meet George’s again. Now that he was closer, George noticed that they were an even lighter shade than he’d thought. He wondered what color they actually were. He hoped to see them one day.

“So,” he finally let out the breath it felt like he’d been holding for days. It was shaky and he couldn’t help but laugh a little. An awkward chuckle to fill the silence that made Dream smile. “Are we just going to wait out here for Sapnap or…?” 

“His plane was supposed to land twenty minutes ago. It said online that it was already here when I pulled into the parking lot, but he wasn’t answering any of my calls.”

“Maybe he doesn’t have cell service? I know I don’t.”

“Really?” 

George pulled his phone from his pocket and showed Dream the screen. The tall man hunched down a bit, stared at it, and frowned. “That sucks.”

“Yeah. Just a bit.”

“Well, how about we bring your things to the car? We can wait in there where it’s _not_ cold and wet.” Dream met his eyes with a little smile that tugged at his plump lips and George could only nod. Dream grabbed two of his bags, slinging one over his shoulder and taking the other in his free hand. His _covered_ hand.

Dream and George walked together with their backs to the warmth and light of the airport. The rain was cool, but not _cold_ as it splattered across George’s face and body and he shoved the hand that wasn’t pulling his suitcase into his pocket. Dream didn’t seem to mind it though as he pushed his wet hair out of his face, giving George another flash of his white gloves.

George wondered if he should ask about them. He wanted to know their purpose but didn’t want to be rude. He didn’t want to make things awkward but, then again, this was Dream…

“What’s with the gloves?”

Dream turned to look back at George, pausing his search for his car to give him a confused glance before he looked down at his gloved hand. It was as if he had just remembered he had them on. “Oh yeah. These.” He stopped walking until George caught up with him and they were side-by-side again. “I have this bad habit of pulling at my fingernails whenever I’m nervous or bored and I read somewhere online that wearing gloves helps stop that so I thought I’d try it out for a while. So far, it’s been working really well.”

George nodded. He had known for a while that Dream had anxiety, but hadn’t realized he did anything like that. He couldn’t say that he didn’t have his own nervous habits though and so he accepted the answer. Something in the back of his mind wondered if it had anything to do with their meet-up though, especially considering it was Dream’s first time showing his face to George. Not only that, but Dream was also letting him and Sapnap live in _his_ house for two weeks. No rentals. No hotels.

They stopped outside a white car. It wasn’t exactly small, but it wasn’t a van by any means. A simple five-passenger vehicle with a decently-sized trunk that Dream popped open to gently set George’s bags in. He moved them all to one side to make room for Sapnap’s as well and, when he slammed the doors closed, the two moved to the front of the car and hopped inside.

Dream’s car was warm and his seats were comfortable. After sitting on a plane for an entire day, George practically melted into the soft black leather of Dream’s passenger seat as the American climbed into the driver’s spot and closed the door behind him. He was shivering a bit from the rain but George didn’t think it was that cold.

They sat in silence for a moment, getting comfortable. George’s heart was thudding against his chest and he worried that Dream could hear it. The lights in the car illuminated the other man’s face and the shimmering water droplets that still hovered on his cheeks like some kind of highlighter. George could feel himself staring but couldn’t be bothered to stop. It was just that he’d taken so long, so many years, to finally see Dream’s face. He was going to take every second he had to appreciate it.

“I’m gonna try and call Nick again.”

“Good idea.”

Dream started the car as he pulled his phone from his pocket, turning on the warm air and heated seats with a click of a few buttons. He tried to call Sapnap again and when the Texan didn’t answer, he dropped the phone into the cupholder and groaned. “Come on dumbass, answer your fucking phone!”

George frowned, wanting to do something to help, and took his own phone from his pocket again to try and call. Still no service. Dream looked at him with a hopeful glance but he just showed him the blank screen.

“That’s not good.” He shoved the phone back into his pocket and stared out the rain-covered window at the car parked in front of Dream’s. 

After a minute or so of nothing but the warm air filling the vehicle, George turned to Dream. It was dark in the car now, the automatic lights having turned off several seconds earlier, and he could barely make out the shape of the younger man’s silhouette in the dark, black against the grey haze of the car. 

His nose was defined. Long, sloped, and perfectly straight. He had a strong jawline. His eyelashes were long and his lips were round and George had to rip his eyes away before he would do something he would regret.

“So, what are we going to do? You said his flight already landed _for sure_?”

“Yeah. Like thirty minutes ago now.”

“Is there another exit he could’ve gone to? Or did you have a different plan with him?”

“Nope. The only plans made were in the call with all three of us.”

“Hmm.” George didn’t know what to do. Yes, he was happy to be there with Dream, but things didn’t feel quite right without Sapnap and a worried feeling crept up on him with every second that passed in his absence. George wondered if something went wrong. If he got on the wrong plane or missed his flight or his phone broke. He hoped none of that happened but, above all, he hoped Sapnap was okay.

Another ten minutes passed and Dream tried to call him again. No answer. “We could go check at the door again,” George suggested. It was a poor attempt to feel useful.

“Yeah, I guess.” Dream sighed and the silhouette of his chest sunk lower into his seat. He put the car in reverse, pulling out of his spot and up to the pick-up zone. It was completely deserted now. There wasn’t a soul in sight and the anxious feeling only multiplied as George’s dark eyes scanned the desolate place. He shivered again and turned to Dream.

“I’m gonna run inside and look for him. You can keep the car running out here, right?” The light-haired man nodded and stopped the car long enough for George to hop out, stepping back into the cool rain. He bolted inside quicker than necessary, eyes darting left and right for any sign of Sapnap.

George entered the airport again but this time, it was completely empty. Not a soul inside. The place felt like a void and it seemed to suck George in, dragging his feet further down the halls with his footsteps echoing off towering ceilings. 

Upon seeing nothing, he approached a brightly lit screen and squinted at it in the dingy lighting of the hallway. It displayed the recent arrival times for the planes that had landed earlier that day and he scanned the list until he found the one that Sapnap was on. _Should have been_ on? 

Houston, Texas to Orlando, Florida. It had landed almost an hour ago.

George followed overhead signs to the baggage claim where Sapnap would have been, but it was just as desolate as everywhere else. If Sapnap had been there, he wasn’t anymore.

The Brit’s shoulders slouched in defeat as he returned back outside, shielding himself from the rain before hopping back into Dream’s passenger seat. 

“Did you find him?”

He shook his head and Dream frowned, sliding down in his seat and letting out a sigh. “Shit.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“Well, we can’t sit in a loading area forever and he still isn’t answering his phone. What do you think?”

“Not sure. That’s why _I_ asked _you_.”

Dream smiled a little at that. George couldn’t see in the dark, but he could hear it in his voice when he said, “Fair enough.” He seemed lost in thought for a moment. “How about we drive back to my place until we can figure out what’s going on? It’s not too far from here so I can drive back if he does call or show up.”

“Good idea.”

They were both a bit on-edge during the drive to Dream’s house. There was an odd tension in the car. Like they were both waiting for something. But Sapnap wasn’t calling and there wasn’t anything they needed to do at the moment, so it all sat. Unresolved.

It was something George had hoped wouldn’t happen, but when the third member of your trio suddenly went MIA, a lot of your original plans had to be thrown out.

Dream’s playlist played through the car while he hummed along, an octave lower than the singer. His gloved fingers tapped on the steering wheel in flashes of white. George kept his eyes tracked on the window though, getting his first glimpses of America through the rain. So far, he liked what he saw.

George had never seen a palm tree in real life before but decided he liked them when there was a bit of a break in the sheets of rain that pelted against the passenger seat of Dream’s car, one long enough that he could see the palms outside. They soared above and into the dark haze of the cloudy night sky and George caught a small glimpse of them in the headlights of other cars passing by.

He liked the rain too. Rain was a lot warmer in Florida than England and he found that it wasn’t nearly as unbearable when it didn’t freeze on contact. George wasn’t sure he had ever experienced warm rain and thought that he probably wouldn’t again after he left Florida. A shame.

It was only inevitable that George looked back at Dream. The silhouette of his eyebrows was a bit scrunched in concentration. His long fingers bounced to the beat of the song he was playing as he stared straight ahead at the wet road of Orlando. George wondered how long it had been since his friend started wearing gloves. Had he always had the problem that forced him into wearing them? Was this a new thing? George flipped through his memories with Dream, wondering if the man had ever sent him any pictures where he could see the gloves. He was certain he would remember such a thing.

The Brit was pulled from his thoughts when the car turned into a driveway. A white house with a big yard came into view when the car’s headlights flickered over it. The garage door opened and Dream pulled in, stopping the car once they were out of the rain. His phone was pulled from the aux cord and the car dropped into heavy silence. 

Dream checked his phone again, as if he could have missed a message from Sapnap, but of course, it was empty. “How about we go inside?”

He turned to George before opening the door and disappearing into the garage, giving the shorter no choice but to follow.

Dream opened the door to the house for George, gesturing for him to enter first. “Since Sapnap isn’t answering and I don’t know what the hell is going on with him, might as well show you around while we wait.” He smiled and closed the door behind them, reaching over to turn on the lights in the dark house.

George followed Dream through an entire house tour, trailing behind him as he introduced the place. From its two guest bedrooms to the hot tub and pool in the back, it was nice. All pristine and white and modern. Not too big and not too small. George decided very quickly that he liked it, even if he was so fucking jet-lagged that he was practically falling asleep standing up for the entire second half of the tour.

By the time they were back in the living room, George couldn’t even get a sentence out without yawning and Dream noticed. He sat on the light grey couch and gestured for George to sit beside him, but the Brit declined. He looked down at Dream and wished he could join him. Wished he could fall asleep at his side and bury his face in his friend’s chest. But obviously that wasn’t exactly practical, especially considering the two had seen each other in person for the first time a mere hour prior. “I’m going to bed.”

George whirled and strode down the hall, collapsing into the nearest guest bedroom. He hadn’t even changed out of his clothes and yet he was already falling asleep. Dream’s guest bed was nice and warm and smelled like Dream. Smelled like everything else in the house. He slipped under the blanket and curled around the nearest pillow, seconds from falling into unconsciousness when Dream burst in. He was on the phone.

The tall man sat on the edge of the bed, spitting out a quick apology to George. “Nick’s on the phone,” he murmured, covering the microphone with his finger, “His cat got really sick.”

“Well, put him on speakerphone.” George sat up and ran his hand through his hair, suddenly wide awake.

“He’s on FaceTime. He can hear you.” 

“George?” Sapnap’s voice crackled through the little speaker on Dream’s phone. 

“Yeah Sap, I’m right here. What happened?”

“My cat got sick this morning - like she was throwing up and stuff - and I went to take her to the vet. I didn’t think it was going to take too long so I didn’t bring my phone but she got sent to some emergency surgery and I was stuck there for like five hours,” Sapnap sighed and he somehow managed to sound even more tired than George felt.

“Oh shit, I’m sorry Nick. Is she alright?”

“Yeah, she’s fine now. The problem is that I missed my flight and I couldn’t even tell you guys what was going on. God, I feel like shit.”

“It’s fine. Seriously Nick, we’re okay. We’re just glad you and your pets are alright.” 

“Yeah, I sped home as fast as I could to tell you guys. She’s still at the vet though ‘cause they’re holding her overnight.” His voice was strained a bit and crackled with static.

“Fuck, man.” It was all Dream seemed to be able to get out and when George turned to look at the other man, he was visibly upset. His eyebrows crinkled and his shoulders slumped and he stared down at the phone with a pained expression. George would be lying if he said he didn’t feel bad too. They were supposed to be in Florida together. All three of them. The Dream Team. After all the years of waiting and lockdowns and travel restrictions.

Now they were - once again - incomplete.

Sapnap sighed on the other end of the line and George scooted over, moving so his face was in-frame while rubbing the last bits of sleep out of his eyes. He leaned against Dream’s body, resting his hand on his friend’s thigh, and could feel the slightest flush of dark grey dusting his cheeks. He didn’t think about it too much though because he was focusing on Sapnap, who looked like he was laying in bed somewhere. He had dark circles under his eyes but he smiled a bit when he saw George. “Hey Gogy.”

George scoffed at the dumb nickname before asking him a question. “Are you going to try and get another flight soon?”

“I wish,” Sapnap rolled over and his microphone muffled a bit, “but Mom and Dad aren’t home and someone’s gotta watch the pets now that one of them’s gonna be in a cone for like a month.”

“Oh.” George frowned. Sapnap wouldn’t be coming? At all? It couldn’t really be considered the Dream Team Meetup of 2021 if only two-thirds of the members were there. He wasn’t a big fan of the implications behind that anyway. Two weeks with Dream sounded great until he was _alone_. Alone. With the guy who made his heart skip a beat every time he looked at him. “That sucks.”

George had never been too good with words.

Sapnap laughed a little at that. “Nah, it’s fine. Besides, it’ll just be payback for when we met up without you.” The Texan was about two seconds from going completely delirious with sleep deprivation and made that very clear when he made some dumb joke about how “Twitter’s gonna love this” and something about a broken air conditioning… (??)

George groaned and laid back down as Dream ended the call, saying goodnight to Sapnap and hanging up before his friend could argue. George waited a moment before looking over at Dream, confused as to why he hadn’t left the room yet. He seemed lost in thought, staring down at his jeans where George’s hand had been a moment earlier. Eventually, he must have felt dark eyes on him because he turned to look at George.

“What are you doing sitting there?”

“Just wondering if you’re going to bed.”

“Why? So you can kiss me goodnight?”

“ _W- WHAT_?!?”

George broke first, bursting into laughter before Dream could even say anything else. The younger laughed too, wheezing giggles that filled the room until George had to stand and force him out. “I’m trying to sleep, Dream, get out!” He attempted to push his friend down the hallway to his own bedroom, but that only worked so well when you were half-a-foot shorter than someone who simply refused to move. “I’m going to bed, you asshole!”

He couldn’t help but notice how much nicer Dream’s laugh was when it wasn’t distorted by his microphone and George’s headset. He was shocked by the clarity, and yet it was so soft. His voice was sweeter than what George had thought it would be too. His little laughs were like honey and George was quickly trapped in it, but he didn’t really mind. In fact, he soaked it up and practically begged for more, quickly making it his personal mission to make Dream laugh more often.

They reached Dream’s room and he popped open the door, standing in the doorway and turning to George with a little smirk across his lips. “So, do you want that kiss now or not?”

“You’re so annoying!” What a nice way to say ‘ _DreamNotFound jokes really hit different when we’re in the same room together_ ’. 

“ _You’re_ the one that followed me all the way to my room.”

“Ugh, I’m going to bed.” George turned around to hide how warm his face had gotten, leaving Dream behind as he walked the short distance down the hall and back to the guest bedroom.

“Goodnight, George!” Goddamn. George’s name sounded really nice on Dream’s tongue. Nicer than normal. George froze for a second, mind blanking completely. Thinking only of his name. Dream’s name. He and Dream. Together.

“Goodnight, Dream.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi yes i'm back with another dnf disaster of a fic! this one's gonna be way longer than my other one and with a lot more details and shit so yeah... a big change here... hopefully a good one though :]
> 
> anyways, fun fact of the day! i've actually been working on this one since january when i was still updating "warmth". like, i had the concept for it back then and immediately made a 90-page google doc outlining every plot point i wanted to happen in it from there. it's changed a lot since then though...
> 
> i don't have an update schedule for this thing and probably won't while writing it (in fact, i'm literally uploading chapter one on a whim as a way to force myself to continue working on it), but i can say it's going to take a big as each chapter is roughly 5k words at the moment :)
> 
> as always, comments and kudos and whatever are totally optional but totally appreciated! i'm curious to see what you guys think of this au and if you have any questions about it cause if you do, i'll gladly write a note explaining it better or something!!
> 
> one last thing, we've got a [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62Q0WZrFParlCJwUZhSrKa?si=FyWetsqXRvSajn2JnlS5Tw) for this fic too!  
> (or "heavy with hoping" by -lili- on spotify if the link isn't working!)
> 
> also i have a [twitter](https://twitter.com/egirIpatches) :)


	2. George is Short, Dream is On His Ass, and They Finally Get Their Cuddling Session

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> [i wanna be yours - arctic monkeys](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nyuo9-OjNNg&ab_channel=ArcticMonkeys-Topic)

The next morning, both boys slept in until noon. It wasn’t a particularly abnormal situation for George, whose eyes opened on an unfamiliar ceiling and mind re-processed everything for a moment, but he was immediately filled with warmth when he remembered where he was. Who he was with. 

He rolled over and buried his face into his pillow. Sure enough, it smelled like apple-cinnamon. Like Dream.

George wondered how long he would be able to do this. It hadn’t even been one whole day and yet he pictured himself slipping up. He just knew it was going to happen. It practically already had.

He was going to make some dumb joke or do something or go too far and Dream was going to find out his best friend liked him. Romantically. Not as a joke or a bit for a stream. The thought of what would happen - not _if_ but _when_ \- he did terrified the Brit.

George muffled a tired groan with his pillow, mind stumbling over all the different ways he could fuck everything up. He was going to be on-edge the entire trip. Not that he wouldn’t have been before, but it was just so different now that he and Dream were completely alone. No Sapnap to distract them from each other. 

Somehow though, George was going to have to get it together. For Dream. For their friendship. He couldn’t just ruin everything over some dumb attraction that would probably fade in a matter of months.

When he finally got up and went into the living room, he remembered that he was still in the same clothes from the previous night. Dream was on the light grey couch, watching something on the TV and looking half-asleep. He had on a t-shirt and basketball shorts and when he sat up to look at George, the shirt rode up a bit more than it should have. Suddenly the carpeted floor was the most interesting thing on the planet. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

“So…” Dream started, “Any big plans for today?”

George sat beside him on the couch and looked at what he was watching. The Netflix home screen. A good choice. “Not really. Should probably get my things out of your car.”

“Yeah, that’d be good. We could go get some breakfast and we have to pick up some groceries for the house. I have nothing here at the moment and we can’t live off fast food for the next two weeks. How does that sound?” Not particularly interesting, but easy enough that George could use it to ease into this new thing with Dream. It was perfect.

George told Dream it was a good plan before the two went into the garage to get all of George’s things, carrying them to the bedroom and plopping them in the center of the white carpet. He left and let George dig out a hoodie and jeans to throw on before they left.

The two were back in the car and Dream’s playlist was blasting while they looked for somewhere to get breakfast. Dream listed off a couple places nearby. “-or there’s this little cafe down the street that has really good pastries! I can’t remember what time they open though…”

“Better idea: We just get McDonald’s.”

“Seriously?” Dream looked over at him with narrowed eyes. “You could have anything as your first American meal and you choose McDonald’s.”

“I mean yeah. It’s good. Can’t really go wrong with McDonald’s.” And George didn’t feel like sitting down in a real restaurant. It definitely had nothing to do with a thought he’d had a while back about a cutesy romantic breakfast date with Dream if that’s what you’re thinking…

“ _Really_?”

“Yes. And I’m the guest here so I think you should take my ideas into consideration.” Dream huffed and George knew he won.

“Fine. You’ve convinced me.”

“Yay, thank you Dream.” George put on an obnoxious grin and Dream rolled his eyes at him but the Floridian flicked on his turn signal at the next McDonald’s anyway. He pulled into the closest parking spot and the two went inside to order.

-

Once breakfast was done, they drove over to the nearest grocery store. It was a huge building on a bustling street that wasn’t too far from Dream’s house. If George had to guess, he’d say it was within walking distance. They found a parking spot and wandered into the store together.

“Here, let’s each take a cart and split up.” Dream handed one to George before he could say anything and he took it. Two weeks was a long time and they would need a lot of food. Two carts worth might’ve been a bit excessive, but George said nothing. “Just… uh… grab whatever you want. I’ll pay for it when we’re done.” And with that, Dream was gone and George was standing in the middle of a big American store with no idea where to start.

The short man let out a sigh and felt the tension leave his body the moment he was alone. Being with Dream wasn't as hard as he’d thought it was going to be. Sure the guy was _very attractive_ to the point where it was a bit distracting, but it was still the same old Dream. He was still sweet and funny and everything he was online. If anything, he was a bit quieter than George had thought he was going to be. Maybe it would all be alright. Maybe he could get through the next two weeks by simply just spending time with his friend. No mention of his little crush. Not even a thought about it. Nope. None at all. And if he could do that, if he could get back home in one piece, then it would all be fine and it would all be worth it.

The problem was that _everything_ felt more intense when they were together and in front of each other. In person. It was all so much to take in and some little part of the back of George’s brain was constantly reminding him that it could all come crumbling down if he slipped up. And so he couldn’t. He pushed all Dream-related thoughts out and wandered off to find snacks.

-

Walking between aisles of things they didn’t have in the UK, George wondered what he should get. It wasn’t as if Dream had given him a shopping list (although everything would have been way easier if he had). Instead, George was left to pick out his own things and so grabbed a few bags of chips he liked, some basic baking ingredients in case he wanted to make something while he was at Dream’s, and a few other items he recognized.

His cart was filling up and he started to look around for Dream, wondering how he was supposed to contact the man without a working phone. Passing aisle after aisle, George poked his head down each one and looked for a flash of Dream’s light hair or the sound of his voice. He passed a young girl who gave him a strange look at one point and he wondered if she recognized him. It was a bit of a strange feeling.

George never really left the house much when he was in Britain, but he knew that while he was with Dream he probably wouldn’t be spending too much time at the man’s home. There were so many things to see and do in Florida that there wouldn’t be time to sit at home and sleep all day, even if that sounded perfectly acceptable to George.

He also worried about what traveling around with Dream would be like. The man still hadn’t face-revealed and George wasn’t exactly _unrecognizable_ and so when they were together, someone would be bound to put two and two together. George supposed that would be a problem for the future though and went back to his search for the Floridian.

“George!” He whirled around and saw the exact guy he was looking for, pushing a cart filled to the brim with the most random shit ever. “I tried to text you about ten times before I remembered your phone isn’t working.”

“Really, Dream? Three packages of Oreos? Who needs that many?”

“What? Are you saying you don’t like Oreos, George?”

“No! They’re fine, I’m just wondering why you need three packages of them for two weeks.”

“Okay, good. I might’ve kicked you out if you said you didn’t like them.”

George feigned a dramatic sigh and said “You would never.” Dream just laughed and led their carts full of food to the nearest checkout.

Two hundred dollars and about twelve shopping bags later, the two were out of the store and back in Dream’s car. Sure enough, George’s earlier observation that they were close to Dream’s house had been correct because the ride back only took about five minutes. George watched out the window the entire time, resisting the urge to look over at Dream when he started singing along to a One Direction song.

Dream drove one-handed, cruising down the street with his other hand on the center console and the window down. The wind rushed through George’s hair until they were stopped in Dream’s garage again and the music was abruptly silenced. Dream continued to hum as they opened the trunk and got out the grocery bags. 

The two put away the groceries in the peaceful quiet of Dream’s kitchen, dodging around each other and only talking when they felt it necessary. George pulled a bag of chocolate chips out and looked around for where to put it. “Where do these go?”

“Top shelf of the cabinet on your left,” Dream said, poking out of the fridge’s open door to look at what George was holding. His light grey hair flopped in front of his face and he blew it out of the way with a huff. George held back a laugh and settled for a small smile instead, turning around to open the cabinet. The top shelf was higher than he’d thought it would be and he shifted onto the tips of his toes to lean across the counter and push the bag of chocolate chips onto it. 

“Need help there, Georgie?” Dream was behind him now and made him jump with surprise. He was close enough that George could feel the heat radiating off of him against his back. He could feel the man smiling and rolled his eyes. 

“No, I got it.” 

“Are you sure about that?” Dream leaned over, brushing his arm against George’s and making him shiver. The shorter hoped that his friend wouldn’t notice the goosebumps that trailed over his skin at the simple touch.

Dream pushed the chocolate chips all the way onto the shelf and laughed against George’s ear, a soft chuckle that made him want to slam his head into the counter. “You’re so short, it’s _hilarious_.”

George wanted to turn around. To make some comeback or sarcastic reply, but his breath was caught in his throat and his feet were frozen in place. He waited for Dream to step back before replying with a simple “ _Sure it is_.” He didn't really know what he meant by it and neither did Dream. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” George heard more bags rustling behind him and just scoffed, waiting until Dream was back to stocking the fridge before finally forcing his feet to move. Wow it was going to be a long two weeks.

-

Dream’s bedroom was very… bright. George wasn’t exactly sure what he was expecting, especially considering it matched the modernity of the rest of his house, but the white walls, white bed, and white carpet weren’t exactly it. 

The room wasn’t very full either, especially considering how large it was. There was a large window that took up nearly an entire wall, open to let blinding sunlight stream in, a king-sized bed along one wall and his gaming setup across from it. There was a TV in a corner opposite from the bed and a strip of neon lights along the ceiling, but otherwise it was like the rest of the house: monochrome shades of brilliant white. Or maybe there were colors, but they were very light. Not like George would notice if there were.

Dream was sitting at the setup, turning on the PC and reaching under the desk (which was also white because why wouldn’t it be) to open a mini-fridge which was full of water bottles. He spun around in his chair (which was black, surprisingly) and handed one to George. 

He was standing in the middle of the room, taking everything in silently while Dream logged onto the PC. George’s own computer wasn’t set up yet, but neither man quite felt like going through the effort to do so at that moment and so George called his friends from Dream’s equipment.

“Alright, you’re good to go,” Dream said, standing and letting George sit in the warm chair. It felt nice and he melted into it slightly as he logged into his Discord. He had remembered plans he’d made prior with the El Rapids boys while he had been unloading groceries and told Dream about them. Dream had said that he could just use his setup, which George thought was quite sweet (even if it was literally just Dream behind friendly to his houseguest).

Either way, George joined a call with Sapnap, Karl, and Quackity. “Hey, are any of you guys live?”

“Nope!” Quackity’s voice rang through Dream’s headset, which was a bit loose on George’s head. “We’re just fucking around on the SMP if you wanna join us.”

“Yeah okay, sounds good.” And George had no idea where Minecraft was on Dream’s PC and so he turned around to find the man crouching beside him. “Where the hell is your Minecraft?” Dream pointed to it on the screen with a gloved finger. “Thank you.”

“Is Dream there?” Sapnap asked through the headset and George realized he hadn’t muted.

“Yeah, actually. I’m on his setup because neither of us can be assed to set mine up.”

“Tell him I say hi!” Karl giggled in his ears, his iconic little laugh, until George lifted half the headset off his ear and turned to Dream.

“Karl says hi.” Dream grinned at that, a bright smile that made George’s cheeks heat. After noises of protest from the other two “fiancés”, George continued. “So do Nick and Alex.”

“Hi Karl, hi guys.” Dream leaned into the microphone and spoke, the voice echoing in George’s ears from someone else’s setup.

“Ha! He likes me better than you!” Karl laughed harder and George groaned, turning down the volume a bit.

“Really? Who’s sitting next to him right now?” The lack of context made Dream turn his head to look at him and George just laughed, listening to the noises of protest from the other men in his ears. Minecraft finally loaded up and he logged onto the SMP, playing on Dream’s alternate account as his main was still locked in the prison. He didn’t have anything and spawned into the world in Creative Mode but, after Dream took the controls and changed it to survival, George was good to go.

The boys messed around in the world, following through with Karl’s idea to make a karaoke bar in his country on the server while they chatted and caught up on life. George was quite distracted though as Dream eagerly watched beside him, eyes trained on the screen. He wasn’t used to having eyes on him while he played… well, eyes in real life. His streams had thousands of viewers, but he didn’t really feel like people were watching him when he streamed. Yeah he could see the chat and the view count and the donations, but they had nothing on the real pair of speckled eyes that darted over his every movement on-screen.

Quackity ran across his vision, giggling and saying something about how he was going to kill Sapnap, and Dream leaned over to George’s ear (the one uncovered by the headset) and said “You should go kill him.” The words sent shivers through the Brit and he forced himself to stare at the screen until Dream backed away.

George muted and turned to his friend. “With what? I don’t even have a sword.” 

“But you will if you kill him.”

“True…” George turned back to the game and snuck up on Quackity, doing as he was told and killing the man in the game. Quackity’s annoyed noises echoed in his ear as Dream laughed beside him, the sound making George smile. Dream set a heavy hand on George’s shoulder and he stiffened a bit. He tried not to make it seem so obvious, but the warmth from the touch shot straight through him and electricity ran over his skin. His breathing stopped for a moment.

The next thing he knew, George’s screen flashed that he was dead and Sapnap was shouting in his ear, something about revenge for killing his fiancé. George didn’t really notice any of it though. He was a bit _distracted_. 

George clicked back into the game, pulling himself out of the haze that he’d fallen into to focus back on the game before the guys noticed. Karl was now building the towering ceiling of the place and said something to George that he hadn’t heard. “What?” 

“Nothing, just need you to grab these.” Karl’s avatar dropped a few stacks of spruce wood planks and George grabbed them, helping extend the walls of the building while Sapnap and Quackity worked on the floor. It was going to be a surprise for Karl’s next _After The Tales_ stream, which the entire Pop Off Crew had promised to be a part of whenever it happened. A karaoke stream with their newest build in Kinoko Kingdom. George’s avatar hopped around, building up a few blocks before dropping back onto the ground and repeating the process. 

“You missed those.” Dream leaned over and pointed to another stack of blocks on the ground that George had indeed missed. His voice was low and quiet, raspy in George’s ear and soft enough to avoid being picked up by the microphone. George could only nod and run over to pick it up.

To say George was having a few thoughts would be an understatement. His mind was going a million miles a minute, looping thoughts of Dream whispering dirty things in his ear in that low voice. Quiet but dangerous. Teasing him. He begged his imagination to shut the fuck up and let him play the funny little block game with his pals as his face was lit aflame and his hands twitched at the controls.

“Ayoooo George…” Quackity’s character standing in front of him with its typical blocky smile, which seemed to be taunting George. He had his autotune voice changer on and was dancing around in front of George, punching him a few times. “George, what are you doing? Is Dream _distracting_ you?”

“What?” He was thankful for the distraction and laughed, pulling Dream’s attention away from the screen. 

“What did he say?”

“Nothing.”

“He definitely said something.”

“It had nothing to do with you, I swear.”

“It did, Dream! He’s lying!” Sapnap shouted in his ear and Dream reached for the headphones, trying to pull them from George’s head.

“Dream!” George shrieked, leaning back and swatting at Dream’s hand.

“ _What_ is going on?!?” Karl asked in his ear, definitely making an insinuation that George completely missed in his panic. Dream reached across him again and made another grab for the headset, bumping into the microphone and sending the men in the call into a spiral of guesses as to what was happening on the other end of the line. Dream grabbed the armrest of the chair and spun it to directly face him, making George scramble to back away with stifled laughter.

“Oh _George_!” Dream made another grab, this time landing directly into George’s lap. The others were still speculating in his ears but he had completely tuned them out now. His heartbeat was thumping through his entire body and rushing over the voices of the others. They definitely weren’t helping the situation when one of them yelled loud enough that Dream could hear it and “Give it here, George!”

“Nope!” George shoved Dream off and the taller man tumbled to the carpet, landing flat on his ass. The room went dead silent for a moment as he stared up at George. There were _a lot_ of thoughts going through the Brit’s head again and this time he couldn’t exactly push them away. Especially when Dream was looking up at him like _that_. Fuck. Yep. He was completely fucked.

That was when Quackity asked what was going on and George was pulled back to his senses. Sapnap made a couple jokes before George could answer and he rolled his eyes, scoffing and turning back to the game. He readjusted the headset and pulled the microphone back to his mouth and continued the conversation, changing the subject after a moment. 

Karl started talking about a plan for a future _Tales_ episode and George listened as he helped build the walls of the bar, but his eyes eventually shifted back over to Dream. He was still sitting on the floor, gloved fingertips brushing through the carpet slightly. He seemed lost in thought and George wondered if he went too far, a cold rush through his chest.

Did Dream not like to be touched? Was it the jokes? He frowned and muted the microphone, looking down at the other man. “You alright?”

Dream seemed to shake out of whatever trance he was stuck in and looked up at George, blinking once. Twice. “Yeah yeah yeah, I’m good.” He smiled a little and the dark-haired man knew it was to make him feel better, so it didn’t really work but he nodded and went back to the game, jotting down the strange interaction in some part of the back of his brain. For future reference.

-

George and Dream sat across from each other on the couch and attempted to decide what to do for that night. They had mutually agreed to stay in the house - despite Dream wanting to show George everything about Orlando - solely because the European was still incredibly jet-lagged and knew it wouldn’t be too fun to walk around the town half-asleep.

“What about the pool?” George suggested, looking past Dream to the dark backyard where he knew the in-ground pool sat. It was a decent enough idea considering he hadn’t gone swimming in a while. Definitely not since the prior summer, probably even longer. 

“Nah, it’s cold as fuck and I’d have to clean it and that’s just way too much work.” Dream stretched a bit and relaxed back into the pale grey fabric, half-lidded eyes focusing on George with a lazy look that made his heart skip a beat.

“Then why do you have a pool, Dream.” It wasn’t as much a question as it was a sarcastic comment.

“Uh, I thought it’d be cool.”

“Thought you’d get more hot tub kisses?” George snickered and the two went back to looking for something to do, questioning no further when Dream eventually stood and wandered into the kitchen.

“You like popcorn, right George?”

“Who doesn’t?”

Dream shot him a playful look before disappearing into the pantry for a moment and pulling out a microwavable bag of the stuff. “Just making sure I don’t have to eat this whole thing by myself…”

“You have nothing to worry about.”

While Dream popped the bag into the microwave, he told George to play something on Netflix. He reached over and grabbed the remote, looking for something to put on until Dream returned with a big bowl of fresh popcorn. The taller man plopped onto the couch beside George, sitting a bit closer than before and taking the remote when he noticed that George still hadn’t picked anything to watch.

After they finally decided on a movie, some shitty teen romance from the early 2000s that George remembered watching with his sister when they were kids, the two relaxed and started chatting about random things. Just dumb small talk to pass the time.

“So, when are we thinking we should tell the fans that we’re together?” Dream asked.

Oh shit. Yeah, they should probably do that at some point. “We should do it soon. Today or tomorrow, for sure.” George almost laughed at how they’d literally forgotten to do one of the most important parts of any meet-up. 

“Well, how do we do it?”

George pulled his phone from his pocket. He still carried around the thing - even if it was practically useless without cell service - out of force of habit. He had taken a couple pictures when he’d first gotten on the plane of the clouds and sky and showed them to Dream, who slid closer to look at them and peered over George’s shoulder.

He could feel Dream’s breath, warm on his neck but sending shivers down his spine. He thought back to earlier and wanted Dream to touch him. To put a hand on his shoulder or pull him close or give him a sign that the feeling was mutual but, alas, it was not. And so he did nothing, instead continuing to scroll through the pictures and clicked on one he especially liked. “What about this? Or do you think they’ll think it’s fake?”

“Now why would they ever think that?” Dream had a shit-eating grin across his lips and a glimmer in his eyes. Motherfucker.

“ _Dream_.”

The younger man wheezed, his body pressing against George’s slightly until their legs were side-by-side and their arms were shoulder-to-shoulder. When his laughter subsided, he replied with “But yes, George. Post that. If they think it’s fake, we can add something else. I’ll reply with something funny.”

“And how will you do that? Because last time I checked, you’re not funny.”

Dream gasped with fake shock. “I am _hurt_ , Mr. NotFound.”

“What- Dream-” George choked on high-pitched giggles, a unique kind of laugh that only Dream seemed to be able to get out of him. “What the _hell_ Mr. WasTaken?”

Dream lightly shoved his shoulder with a gloved hand and George shoved back, laughing the whole way. He would swear he could get high off of Dream’s laughs. There was just something about him that made George want to drown in him entirely. Take every piece of himself and give them all to Dream. Lose himself completely to the other man. His laugh. His smile. Everything about him. 

George wanted it all.

“Here.” Dream handed his phone to George and let him log into Twitter to post the picture, which he airdropped to his friend’s device. He hit send on the tweet of the with the caption a vague “:)” before handing the phone back to Dream.

The man typed out a reply and chuckled to himself, grinning down at the phone. “Do you think this’ll confuse them?” He held it up and George read the reply. It was _really_ dumb. Like, he literally put two seconds of thought into the words “where are you going george???”

“Sure. I think most things we tweet do.” Dream hit send and handed the phone back to George to reply. He took it and sent a simple “:)” to which Dream replied “is that a threat”. The two snickered the entire time. The whole thing was so much funnier when they had to hand the phone back and forth to tweet at each other despite sitting on the same couch, literally touching arms and legs.

Dream finally set the phone beside himself and the two returned focus to the movie despite it lighting up repeatedly with every kind of notification. George knew the tweet was getting spammed with responses from their friends, most of which had already known the meet-up was happening. They’d discussed it a few times in the SMP Discord, but nobody knew that Sapnap wasn’t in attendance outside of those that had been on the call earlier that day. George thought about that as he ignored the buzzing of Dream’s phone, which lit up with the names of Karl, Ranboo, Tubbo, and half a dozen others.

-

Sure the movie had only been playing for an hour but if you were to ask George, he’d say it had been going for three. He was so exhausted that he struggled to keep his eyes open and would do anything to fall asleep right then and there, stretch out on the couch and close his eyes, but Dream was still perched far too close for him to do that. He tried not to think about it as he leaned backward a bit and rested his head against the cushion of the couch.

George’s eyes fluttered closed and he felt Dream shifting next to him. The younger man snacked on the popcorn and George could feel his every move. The brush of his arm against George’s rib. A small sigh. His hand rested on the grey cushion beside George’s thigh and he resisted the urge to inch closer to it. He didn’t move at all though. Couldn’t. That was until he felt Dream’s eyes on him.

He squinted and looked over at the other man in the dark of the living room, raising an eyebrow when he did indeed catch Dream staring. The light-haired man snickered a little. “Are you sleepy, _Georgie_?”

Everything about it did things to George’s chest that it definitely should not have. The nickname. His raspy tone. His heavy gaze. The lop-sided grin on his lips. Oh his lips… George forced himself to look at the TV. “No, not really.”

“Are you sure? Because you kinda just feel asleep there.”

“Nope. I was just resting my eyes.”

“‘Resting my eyes’?? Just sounds like you’re a tired little baby, George.” 

George opened his mouth to respond and yawned instead, which made Dream dissolve into a round of wheezing laughter. The Brit’s heart thudded in his ears and he fiddled with his fingers, refusing to acknowledge how smitten he was by the man. He took the feeling and shoved it down his throat, choking on it when he stood up to leave. 

A hand stopped him though, grabbing his wrist and sending warmth shooting up his arm like violent flames. “Aw come on, where are you going?”

“To bed.” He turned back to meet Dream’s gaze and instantly regretted it. If that man asked him to sit back down, he’d do it. If that man asked him to drop to his knees, he’d probably do that too. Dream had George wrapped around one gloved finger and didn’t even know it. 

“ _Really_? You just said you weren’t tired.”

“Okay, maybe I lied.”

He felt the slightest tug on his limp wrist and sat back down instantly. “Can’t you stay until the end of the movie?”

“How much longer is it?”

“Not sure. Probably an hour or so.”

George rubbed the sleep out of his eyes and shot Dream a small smile, wondering if it came off as flirty as it felt. “Okay fine, but you’re sharing the popcorn.” He leaned over to take some from Dream and felt his face flush when he reached across Dream’s chest. He was glad for the dark room as he pulled back and an unwanted thought entered his mind. Sure Dream wouldn’t really be able to tell he was blushing anyway, but what if he could… What if Dream could see color?

George’s heart thumped at the thought and he wondered if Dream could hear it. It definitely felt possible, the way the beat in his chest filled his ears and drowned out the film. He fiddled with his fingers and thought about the implications such a thing would have. Seeing color. It would mean Dream had met his soulmate already. Had kissed them.

As much as George had thought about meeting his own soulmate in the past, he’d never thought about Dream meeting _his_. He’d never even thought to ask if he had. He decided that he never wanted to. Just like that, George was wide awake.

Soon enough, the movie ended but George was sitting straighter than a ruler, mind running on overdrive. Dream, on the other hand, had fallen fast asleep on the couch. More specifically, his head was resting on George’s shoulder while the rest of him sprawled over the grey cushions. George was staring straight ahead at the blank Netflix end screen.

He couldn’t remember a single plot point of the entire film they had just watched. He couldn’t even remember a single character’s name. On the other hand, he had memorized exactly how Dream felt beside him. Every spot where their bodies connected and Dream’s heat extended to George. Soft snores escaped the younger man’s mouth every once in a while and he shifted, leaning into his friend a bit more.

George didn’t want to get up. He didn’t want to wake Dream. But he couldn’t stay there forever, right? He had to go to bed. He was getting tired again. And yet he didn’t move. He briefly wondered if he should change Dream’s position. Or even just take off his gloves and socks. There was no way those were comfortable to sleep in.

Instead, George made a decision that he wondered if he would regret in the future. He wondered if he would think of the following moments in the dark nights when he went back to England. If he’d long for the “good old days” and think of that exact moment as he shifted his legs and leaned into Dream’s sleeping body. He let the man’s head rest against his own and curled around him.

It wasn’t exactly the most comfortable position, but he hadn’t woken his friend and so he reached across him to take the TV remote and turn it off. With a click, the two were plunged into inky darkness together and George let his eyes slip closed again. He felt Dream’s breathing and slowed his to match. 

He definitely _could_ get used to this. _Could_ long for this for the rest of his life. But he _couldn’t_ let himself. Not even then, in the latest hour of the night, could George let himself fantasize that Dream would ever like him back. Nope. 

That was how all bad things started: by letting himself think he had a chance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> fun fact: i edited most of this chapter in the parking lot of a local grocery store using their wifi and my school laptop. 
> 
> anyway, i really like this chapter! i had a bit of fun with it (as you can probably tell) and I'm kinda started to sneak in a couple hints of what might be happening in the future. i'd highly recommend paying attention to little details from here on out because a lot of them will be important later. my first and only hint is to look at what's being described in color (and lack thereof of course). there's a couple objects that will be important in the future :)
> 
> as always, here's the [playlist](https://open.spotify.com/playlist/62Q0WZrFParlCJwUZhSrKa?si=l48ZYOCXTN6jdTyRzANhZQ) and my [twitter](https://twitter.com/egirIpatches) :]


End file.
